Rivers in Maryland

Have you ever wondered how many rivers there are in Maryland? That question,
however, is one that has no absolute answer, because there is no quantitative
definition of "river." In general, rivers are bigger than creeks,
and creeks are bigger than brooks. But how big does a creek have to be before
we call it a river? There is no widely or generally accepted answer to this
question. In fact, some so-called "creeks" may be bigger than some
named "rivers."

In an effort to provide an answer to the question of how many rivers there
are in Maryland, it was arbitrarily decided to simply count those bodies of
water having "river" as part of their names. The names listed below
were taken from the Official State Highway Map of Maryland. Rivers with branches
(e.g., North, Middle and South Branches of the Patapsco River) are included
only once in this listing. The numbers 1-42 refer to the numbered locations
(approximate) on the map below.